How to Disable Enemy Radar Effectively

[Kwangil Lee, Former Senior Researcher at the Agency for Defense Development] Electronic warfare refers to all military activities that use electromagnetic waves and directed energy to control the electromagnetic spectrum or attack the enemy. An electronic warfare system detects signals in the electromagnetic spectrum, analyzes the properties of the spectrum to extract information, or modulates electromagnetic waves based on this information to emit strong jamming outputs.

▲The Role of Electronic Warfare on the Battlefield= At 3 a.m. on January 1, 1991, pilots of the U.S. Air Force EF-111A and U.S. Navy EA-6B switched on the power to the ALQ-99 console. Noise jamming signals and deception jamming signals began to be emitted toward the Iraqi air defense network from the aircraft. Simultaneously, the EC-130H Compass Call aircraft started broadcasting indiscriminate jamming signals across all communication networks. Due to these jamming signals, the multinational forces’ attack aircraft and cruise missiles commenced operations without being detected by the Iraqi forces. This marked the beginning of the Gulf War, famously known as Operation Desert Storm, initiated by electronic warfare. Subsequently, the Iraqi air defense network was so heavily damaged by the indiscriminate attacks of the multinational forces that it became difficult to find operational equipment.

On the battlefield, when a fighter jet penetrates enemy lines, it can be detected by radar at enemy surface-to-air missile bases. At this time, the electronic warfare equipment mounted on the fighter jet detects the radar signals and modulates them into jamming signals. This creates false fighter targets, causing the radar to misinterpret the fighter’s location as that of the false target, leading missiles to be launched in the wrong direction.

▲Electronic Warfare Operating Environment= The electronic warfare operating environment in which electronic warfare systems operate is a mixed electromagnetic environment that includes not only electromagnetic waves used by military weapon systems such as surface-to-air missile radars but also electromagnetic waves emitted by commercial equipment such as broadcast signals, weather radars, and navigation radars. Especially with the rapid spread of information and communication functions in vehicles like smart cars or connected cars, the electromagnetic environment is becoming increasingly complex.

Military weapon systems use electromagnetic waves for various purposes. Early warning radars, detection radars, fire control radars, missile tracking radars, multifunction radars that combine all these functions into one radar, search radars, and imaging radars all use electromagnetic waves. Military communication systems also use electromagnetic waves, including radios, tactical communication systems, satellite communication systems, data links for communication with manned/unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and robots. Navigation equipment represented by GPS is used not only in vehicles, aircraft, and ships but also in missiles and bombs to improve targeting accuracy. Additionally, electronic wave equipment used in weapon systems is countless, including Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) devices used in aircraft, laser designators for laser-guided bombs, laser rangefinders for detecting distances to enemy tanks, and infrared equipment for object identification at night.

Therefore, electronic warfare, which detects the electromagnetic waves used by the enemy to identify the location and status of weapon systems, disrupts and interferes with enemy weapon systems through jamming electromagnetic waves when necessary, neutralizing their functions and enabling preemptive strikes, is an essential force in modern warfare.

A notable difference between electronic warfare systems and other weapon systems is that because they handle information contained in electromagnetic waves, they require constant modernization. To this end, even during peacetime, electromagnetic wave information collection activities must be continuously conducted to accumulate and update an electromagnetic wave information database on electronic warfare threats.

▲Electronic Warfare Support= Electronic warfare support systems perform missions such as detecting the direction or location of electromagnetic waves used by weapon systems and analyzing the characteristics of these waves. Through this, they provide information necessary for electronic attacks and offer data required for physical strikes and building electronic warfare databases, such as the location and quantity of weapon systems. Communication electronic warfare support systems mainly intercept communication networks and detect locations to understand the battlefield situation and provide data needed for electronic attack equipment to jam communication signals when necessary.

Recently, most communication networks use encryption devices or encryption codes, making real-time interception or analysis difficult in many cases. On December 4, 2011, the U.S. Lockheed Martin RQ-170 unmanned aerial vehicle was captured by Iranian forces near Kashmar city in northeastern Iran. The Iranian government announced that the UAV was guided by Iran’s electronic warfare equipment and safely landed. The U.S. claimed that Iran’s assertion of guiding and capturing the UAV was false, but Iran rebutted this with various pieces of evidence. Detecting the UAV’s data link and capturing the UAV requires knowledge of the coded data format of the data link, so Iran’s understanding of this was difficult for the U.S. to accept.

Radar electronic warfare support systems detect radar signals and include radar warning receivers and electronic intelligence collection systems. Radar warning receivers are mainly mounted on aircraft and detect and warn of radar and missile signals. Through this, aircraft pilots can know the direction and operational status of surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles. Electronic intelligence collection systems detect signals from ground early warning radars, detection radars, tracking radars, as well as aircraft and shipborne radars, performing location detection and signal collection missions.

The Yom Kippur War began on October 6, 1967, with a preemptive attack by Egypt on Israel. Within 48 hours of the outbreak, 17 Israeli brigades were annihilated. One of the main reasons was that Israel failed to detect the radar of Egypt’s SA-6 missiles. The SA-6 missile is guided by a semi-active homing method. A ground-based continuous wave illumination radar emits continuous wave signals toward the target in coordination with a straight flush tracking radar, and the missile homes in on these electromagnetic waves to fly toward the aircraft target. The problem was that Israeli aircraft electronic warfare equipment lacked the capability to detect continuous wave radar signals. As a result, the Israeli Air Force lost many aircraft and flew at low altitude to avoid detection, but they could not evade the improved SA-7 man-portable missiles and ZSU-23-4 anti-aircraft gun shells.

Electro-optical electronic warfare support systems detect missile exhaust flames to warn of missile approach, implemented and operated as missile warning receivers or missile approach warning devices. There are two methods for detecting missile flames: infrared and ultraviolet, and missile approach can also be detected by pulse-Doppler radar methods. For ground-operated tanks and armored vehicles, laser rangefinders are used, and laser warning receivers that detect laser signals from enemy tanks and issue warnings are also employed.

Signal intelligence collection systems collect communication intelligence, electronic intelligence, and instrumentation intelligence. They are mounted on various platforms and operated, including satellites. The collected data is sent in real-time to ground control centers via data links for detailed analysis, creating a database of weapon system locations, status, and key performance variable measurements.